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A few weeks ago I finally got DH to go to a cardiologist after complaining of shortness of breath for a month or so. We knew he had a murmur but it hadn't been checked in many years. So the MD has an echocardiogram done, and tells my husband he has an aneurysm in his aorta at the root (by the heart) and that it is very dangerous and he has to see a cardiac surgeon right away. He ordered an MRA test which confirmed that he has a 5cm aortic root aneurysm and a bi-cuspid aortic valve (a birth defect) which is leaking which may be causing the shortness of breath (SOB). A week later we see the surgeon who says that 5 cm is not that big of a deal, that it is not emergent and can just be watched. She also said that the degree of leakage does not appear to be enough to cause the SOB DH is experiencing. She wants him to take a few more tests to see if something else may be going on to cause it. One of the tests is a stress test.
So we go back to the cardiologist yesterday who says "a stress test?? There is NO WAY I'm putting you on a treadmill with that aneurysm. It's too dangerous. He tries to call the surgeon but she's in the OR and can't answer. Then he calls a cardiothoracic surgeon that he knows from a hospital with a good reputation for heart surgery on Long Island. The surgeon agreed to see DH this morning.
Meanwhile, we get home and I call 2 people I know who have experience with this surgery. One told me he had a 5 cm aneurysm for 5 years and they just watched it. When it grew to 5.3 cm, they recommended the surgery. The other friend told me the criteria for repair used to be 6.0 cm, but is now 5.0 cm. Her DH had an undetected aneurysm which ruptured, with a poor outcome. DH is saying Goody I have 5 years before they cut my chest open.
DH went to the surgeon this morning, MD reviews the films and tells him that 5.0 cm is the borderline but because he has the deformed valve, he should have the surgery (valve replacement and aorta repair) because the bicuspid valve makes the aneurysm more dangerous. He told him that he would do a cardiac catheterization before the open heart surgery to see if ther are any other causes for the SOB, instead of a stress test. Now DH is upset because he thought he had 5 years. The MD tells him to get an echocardiogram at 1pm, which he does. The supervisor of the echo staff asked him why he was there. He told her the story and she said "Does he really want to operate on this? Your aneurysm is only 4.7 cm and they usually just watch this. You can come here twice a year and have it checked".
So DH is feeling he is on a roller coaster and of course he does not want to have open heart surgery but he does not want to be a walking time bomb either. I suggested he get even a 3rd opinion and he just sort of growled at me. Plus he has been told he cannot run (he runs 3 to 4 miles/day) or lift anything heavier than 10 lbs while he has the aneurysm. This will change his life and he doesn't know if that is worth it either.
Any information anyone has on this topic would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
So we go back to the cardiologist yesterday who says "a stress test?? There is NO WAY I'm putting you on a treadmill with that aneurysm. It's too dangerous. He tries to call the surgeon but she's in the OR and can't answer. Then he calls a cardiothoracic surgeon that he knows from a hospital with a good reputation for heart surgery on Long Island. The surgeon agreed to see DH this morning.
Meanwhile, we get home and I call 2 people I know who have experience with this surgery. One told me he had a 5 cm aneurysm for 5 years and they just watched it. When it grew to 5.3 cm, they recommended the surgery. The other friend told me the criteria for repair used to be 6.0 cm, but is now 5.0 cm. Her DH had an undetected aneurysm which ruptured, with a poor outcome. DH is saying Goody I have 5 years before they cut my chest open.
DH went to the surgeon this morning, MD reviews the films and tells him that 5.0 cm is the borderline but because he has the deformed valve, he should have the surgery (valve replacement and aorta repair) because the bicuspid valve makes the aneurysm more dangerous. He told him that he would do a cardiac catheterization before the open heart surgery to see if ther are any other causes for the SOB, instead of a stress test. Now DH is upset because he thought he had 5 years. The MD tells him to get an echocardiogram at 1pm, which he does. The supervisor of the echo staff asked him why he was there. He told her the story and she said "Does he really want to operate on this? Your aneurysm is only 4.7 cm and they usually just watch this. You can come here twice a year and have it checked".
So DH is feeling he is on a roller coaster and of course he does not want to have open heart surgery but he does not want to be a walking time bomb either. I suggested he get even a 3rd opinion and he just sort of growled at me. Plus he has been told he cannot run (he runs 3 to 4 miles/day) or lift anything heavier than 10 lbs while he has the aneurysm. This will change his life and he doesn't know if that is worth it either.
Any information anyone has on this topic would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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